Nick’s lesson on how to call in wildfowl used a General Purpose Mallard Call made from Bocote wood.

The reeds need a quick warm up before they sound right, so, the first tip from Nick was: “Always give them a quick go to flex and soften up the reed before you start properly. Now, use your diaphragm to push air up. Your tongue should go to the bottom of your lower teeth. You hold the call between your thumb and first finger, in the webbing. Bring the call to your mouth, as though you are sipping a bottle of beer and say ‘quit, quit, quit, quit’.”

I produced a sound as though a duck was being strangled — certainly it wasn’t going to bring any wildfowl closer. “Don’t worry,” Nick said, “it’s not too far off. And it is like rubbing your stomach and patting your head at the same time.” I tried again, producing a slightly more “quacky” sound. Each time, Nick tweaked my technique slightly, until, though far from perfect, I was producing a rough approximation of a mallard. “Just needs a bit of refining and tuning, and you’ll be up and running,” Nick encouraged me.

Watch my attempt in the video above.

Do you have any tips on how to call in wildfowl? Share them in the comments below